Garlic Rose

Cranford and Westfield are pleasant little towns in Jersey, full of nice places to eat. Garlic Rose though, is a conundrum. Any place devoted to garlic has an advantage in my book. This little one has a cool and kitchy kind of vibe, and is informal and simple. We were hoping for some nona-style Italian.




The menu is a bit eclectic, with some French, American and Italian influence. We had a side of asparagus wrapped in pastry dough, and gnocchi with sweet sausage and spicey peppers. The asparagus was a good idea, with mediocre execution. The dough was heavy, the sauce was too. The gnocchi was just plain poor. An oily, grey garlic bullion was filled with heavy, store bought gnocchi. The sausage was good and the canned peppers were spicey. It had plenty of broccoli, so we were happy with the balance, just not the quality.

Too bad, we hoped for more, and were pulling for this little restaurant. Garlic Rose should not deter you from trying any other place in downtown Westfield.